Stranded and Rescued
by Moana Fan Girl
Summary: Maui and April were best friends before Maui decided to steal the Heart of Te Fiti. After the theft, April is disappointed in him and is stuck with him, thinking the gods would want her to watch over him. Will their friendship be gone for good, or will it be restored? And will they eventually begin to learn to love each other when a certain girl comes around to restore the Heart?
1. Stranded

Both abandoned by their parents and found by the gods, April and Maui were the best of friends. They did nearly everything together, never leaving the other's side. They became a demigod and a demigoddess, Maui getting his fish hook and her getting her own staff which looked like a spear, both made from the same thing. They were both pretty much unstoppable as a team, the two of them being very much alike but different in some ways.

Maui was brave, she got scared by certain things easily. He was unsure why his parents had abandoned him, feeling he was unwanted. She felt there had to be a reason for their parents just abandoning them like that, having the feeling that some parents just couldn't take care of their children. Though sometimes they couldn't help but wonder if the other was right.

Their friendship lasted until that fateful day when Maui and the huge crab monster, Tamatoa had their big fight since both were after the Heart of Te Fiti. Maui wanted it for the humans while Tamatoa had wanted it only for himself. Out of his own rage, Maui took the giant crab monster's leg. Hearing the crab's cry of pain, April winced at the sight of his leg being removed before glaring at Maui, feeling it was wrong to remove the crab's leg.

When he left to steal the Heart, she refused to go along. She didn't know what stealing the Heart could do, but she had a bad feeling about it. But she did follow him for her own amusement, just for if he failed. She had hoped he would and that his whole idea would blow up in his face, hoping it'd shatter his ego a bit. She believed he needed it, since his feats seemed to have gotten to his head.

After following him for some time as a hawk, she watched him stop in the middle of the ocean before flying up to the island. She followed but at a safe distance so as to not be seen. As she watched him disappear into the island of Te Fiti, it took only a few minutes before she saw him exit, running as fast as he could to make his escape with the ground shaking. She made sure to stay out of his sight as he fled the island, smirking at the thought of something bad happening as she watched.

Sure enough, a giant lava monster - known as Te Kā - rose from the large rocks sticking up from the ocean, ready to attack. April saw him readying his hook, the blue light emitting from it.

_This'll be fun._ She thought as she watched him jump into the air and swing his hook at Te Kā just as she started to swing her fiery hand at him. The attack from the lava monster was brutal enough to send Maui flying towards an island with nothing but rocks and a sandy beach on it, his hook and the Heart being knocked from his grip and dropped into the ocean.

As she flew overhead, she considered whether or not to make her presence known. She then smirked as she decided to stay and perch herself on one of the rocks, watching as the demigod slowly but weakly moved his hands to his sides to push himself up, but began to feel a bit concerned as he failed and fell face-first back into the sand.

"Don't have such a big ego _now_, do ya big guy?" April asked with a smirk as she flew down a few feet beside him and shapeshifted back to her human form, her wavy brown hair in front of her shoulders before she pushed it back behind her. Maui just glared at her, a look of pain in his eyes as he did.

She liked seeing him this vulnerable after what he had done to Tamatoa about a few days before, but she couldn't help but worry about him at the same time. She could see how much pain he was in just by looking into his eyes and it made her wince. That blow from Te Kā must've hurt badly.

"Shut up..." She heard him mutter weakly in response to her teasing, "If you had come with me, none of this would've happened." April glared at him, clutching her staff in her hand.

"_Excuse_ me?!" She asked, her staff held tightly in her grip, "For _your_ information, I had a bad feeling about stealing the Heart, and I _did_ come with you! I just kept myself _hidden_ because I didn't want you to _see_ me and wonder why I was there! And I'm actually happy this whole 'stealing the Heart of Te Fiti' thing blew up in your face! You needed it with how big your ego is due to all your so-called 'great' feats! Like _that_ one!" She used her staff to jab at the tattoo he earned from his big fight with Tamatoa, causing him to let out a short grunt due to the huge amount of pain he still felt from crashing hard onto the island.

"Will you _please_ not touch me right now?" He managed to ask out of frustration despite the pain, his teeth clenched, "It freaking hurts!"

"Oh, _I'm_ sorry!" April apologized in a sort of teasing way, poking his side a bit lighter than she did to his back, causing him to let out a smaller grunt of pain, "Didn't know it'd hurt!"

"Well it DID!!" He suddenly snapped, moving suddenly to get up before collapsing back down on the sand as his back hurt and stung even from bending it, the injured demigod letting out a small yelp as he collapsed. April, despite wanting to teach him a lesson, winced at the sound of his yelp.

She looked closely to see if there was anything wrong, but she didn't see anything. She then remembered that demigods didn't bruise nor get cuts, though one thing she failed to notice for some unknown reason was the slightly black coloring on his skin, especially the spot where Te Kā's hand had smacked into him.

_Burns..._ She thought, subconsciously running a finger very lightly over the burn marks.

"What are you doing?" Maui asked sounding annoyed, not even wincing at the pain from feeling the body heat from her fingers touching his burned flesh since he barely felt it.

Realizing what she was doing upon hearing him she quickly withdrew her fingers from his skin and said, "Nothing! I was just curious as to what was wrong and why you couldn't get up. It turns out there are burns on your skin."

"Well no shit..." Maui muttered with a roll of his eyes, "Why do you care, anyway?"

"Obviously, I _don't_." April spat, glaring at him, knowing that what she had just said wasn't true, "I _don't_ care about you because of what you had done to Tamatoa–"

"If you care about that giant, beady-eyed bottomfeeder so much, why don't you...go live with him or something?" Maui interrupted, secretly hating himself for not being able to come up with a better comeback.

"Maybe I will." April said as she turned her back to him, "And maybe if losing _me_ as a friend isn't enough to teach you a lesson, maybe _you_ being left here alone will!"

"Is _this_ why you're treating me like crap?!" Maui yelled to her as she started to leave, a hint of anger in his voice, "I've told you that that beady-eyed bottomfeeder only wanted the Heart to himself!"

_Well you could've agreed to give it to the humans then give it to him after the humans were done with it, instead of taking his leg._ April thought with a roll of her eyes, _I mean, even if the theft was successful, it wouldn't hurt... Then again, he did mention wanting the Heart for the power of creation, so he may have wanted it in order to make his own army._

"So you're gonna leave me?!" She heard Maui yell as she continued walking, "Yeah, some friend _you_ are if you're leaving me alone and helpless and in PAIN!" April stopped suddenly upon hearing this before spinning around suddenly to face him, shooting him a glare.

"Yeah? Well it's nice you still think we're _friends_, because we're _not_." April said quietly enough for him to hear, anger showing in her voice. Or was it hate? She wasn't too sure. But she decided she'd let the gods know where she was going before she went to visit Tamatoa in his lair.

* * *

After letting the gods know where she was going and what had happened, April gathered supplies in a boat they had given her and she set sail for Lalotai. But first, she had to bring some food to Maui, just so he could survive on the island he was stuck on.

As she sailed, she noticed the sea acting up a bit. She had a feeling it had something to do with the Heart being stolen, but she wasn't going to let that stop her since she and Maui were trained Wayfinders. She then began to think about how they were trained side-by-side on a boat, both of them taking turns with being at the sail or being in control of the oar. She was almost so deep in her memories that she almost didn't notice a big wave in front of her.

She rushed to the sail and pulled the rope to straighten it, just to make the ride over the wave easier so the boat wouldn't tip or fall. After she got over the wave, she looked around before feeling the current. It was warm, so she smirked before pulling the sail and speeding towards the island.

* * *

After pulling up to the island Maui was stranded on, she made sure the boat was on the sand in very shallow water so it couldn't go anywhere. She then hopped off, seeing Maui make another failed attempt at getting up, his grunt telling her he was still in a fair amount of pain, but less than before.

"Hey, big boy." She said with a smirk, "I brought'cha some food. And yes, before you ask, the gods had me bring it. Also I told them what happened with you stealing the Heart of Te Fiti and they aren't pleased."

"I was doing it for the humans." Maui muttered as April plopped the food down beside him, "You know, just so they could have the power to create life itself. But now I realize...it's cursed." April rolled her eyes.

"Pfft, _cursed_?!" She questioned, "Um, I believe in curses but honestly, you were asking for it. And I _did_ tell you I had a bad feeling about stealing it, didn't I?" Maui rolled his eyes.

"Look, I didn't expect you to come here just so you can nag me." He told her, slightly glaring at her, "And besides, weren't you leaving to go check on that giant crab cake?"

"Um, _duh_... But first I had to tell the gods what had happened and where I was going." April said matter-of-factly, "And you're lucky they had me bring food to you so you wouldn't _starve_, because I wouldn't mind seeing you suffer for a few days or more." Maui sighed, rolling his eyes at her before an idea came to him and he smirked.

"Well I'm glad you actually care about me, despite the fact you said you didn't earlier." He told her, still smirking at her. April just rolled her eyes at him.

"Ugh, like _I_ care!" She shouted, her arms crossed as she looked at him with a slight glare, "_You_ are a terrible demigod...and friend!" She could see the look of hurt on Maui's face before it turned to a glare, but she continued, "Heck, Tamatoa was your best friend and you _removed his freaking leg_. How good does that make _you_ look? And wait until I tell all the _humans_ you love so much about how you took his leg! Wouldn't be so good for your image now, would it? Oh, and when you can finally get up, _you're_ not going to hurt me either, are you?"

"What?!" Maui questioned, "Don't be ridiculous! Tamatoa is a giant crab _monster_, okay? Like, what if he created an _army_ using the Heart of Te Fiti? Would you _still_ be on his side?!"

"Mmm, no." April said matter-of-factly, "But I don't think there's a way he could've gotten out of Lalotai faster if he wanted to try to beat you to it. Besides, isn't a boat faster than a giant, fifty foot coconut crab?"

"Believe me, he's sneaky." Maui said with a roll of his eyes, "Besides, he can't get out of Lalotai because it's below the ocean and there is no way out, except probably going through a large amount of water since the ocean is so big. And if there's one thing I know, crabs can't stay under water for too long because they need air to survive. No air equals no survival, the same for us air breathers. So you can thank me for taking his leg because he also could've _die__d_ trying to travel out of Lalotai to get the Heart."

"Well _you_" — she jabbed her staff into his side and smirked as he let out a groan from the pain — "could've gone _with_ him, and possibly _said_ something about not using the Heart to create an army once you were done with it. Like you could've made him promise. But _no__oo_, instead you just _take his leg_ and leave him for dead!" Maui let out a huff at this, clearly not in the mood and knowing he was still too weak to grab her and possibly throw her into the water. But he tried to grab her anyway, and April swiftly dodged his hand flying out to grab her.

"Look, I'm _not_ in the mood to be criticized right now!" He shouted at her, unable to do anything but glare, "And you're just lucky I can't grab my hook–"

"Your hook isn't _with_ you, it's in the ocean!" April spat, glaring at him, "And if you _try_ to grab at me _again_, your hook isn't going to be the only thing you lost. You _got_ that?" As she poked at his side again not-so-gently with her staff, and honestly a bit harder than she had done the past few times, she saw him jump slightly, his eyes shut tight and his teeth clenched as he sucked air in through them as he tried not to yelp or make any other sounds from the pain he was in.

Though after that as he opened his eyes to look at her, his expression didn't show frustration. It showed pain and...fear? No, he didn't seem to fear anything so maybe she was misreading his expression, but his eyebrows were curled up as if he were sad but his mouth was open a bit as if he were kind of shocked at what she had done. This made her feel kind of bad for him again, but to hide it she just turned her back to him and sighed.

"Now I'm going to visit Tamatoa..." She said, a bit calmer now and trying to hide the fact that she felt bad before slowly walking to her boat in case Maui wanted to ask her something, "Since I'm sure the gods wouldn't want me to leave you here without asking if you need anything–"

"I'm fine." Maui said quietly enough for her to hear, interrupting her, "Just...go." April just nodded and went on her way.


	2. Memories

After her chat with Maui, April took a deep breath and walked to her boat, looking back at him as she grabbed it to push it back into the ocean. She noticed him watching her with what looked like a sad expression.

Once he noticed her looking at him however, he glared at her and asked, "What? Aren't you going to visit that beady-eyed bottom-feeder?" April rolled her eyes with a sigh as she held up her staff to put it on the boat, causing Maui to force himself to hide a wince at her raising it.

"Well no _shit_." April said, an attitude in her voice, "_I'm_ going to apologize for _not_ kicking your sorry a–" She was cut off by a chuckle from Maui and she glared at him. "What's so funny _now_?" She asked out of annoyance, reaching for her staff.

"I'm sorry, _you_ kicking _my_ butt?" Maui asked, trying to hold in laughter but failing as more chuckles came out, "Yeah, like when is _that_ ever going to happen?" April grabbed her staff then suddenly pointed it at him as it started to glow blue, causing him to wince a bit and think that maybe what he had said wasn't such a good idea.

April smirked at his wincing and slowly began to walk over to him before saying, "Right now, if you _want_ me to." Maui just rolled his eyes, silently cursing himself for doing something stupid.

"Just go find Tamatoa, April." He said with a sigh, no longer looking at her, "I'll just be here, alone..." She was confused as to why he had sounded sad but thought he was trying to get her to feel bad so she tossed her staff onto the boat and started to push it into the water again, not looking back. She only looked back as she hopped on the boat and started to drift away.

* * *

Knowing it'd take one day to sail to Lalotai, April looked back at Maui's island, seeing it as only a speck in the distance.

_I know he might hate me for this, but I gotta check on Tamatoa._ She thought, knowing how much Maui hated Tamatoa after their big fight, _I mean, they - or at least, _we_ \- were friends for a while, and I still can't believe Maui had torn off his leg, just to get the Heart for the humans instead of telling Tamatoa that he'll give him the Heart after the humans were done with it as long as he didn't use it to create an army or something._

She then doubted that Tamatoa would even be happy to see her, but she'd hoped the fact that she had yelled at Maui for removing Tamatoa's leg as they left would be enough to show that she cared for the giant crab. She then sighed as she pulled on the rope, straightening the sail so she could at least sail faster.

* * *

Maui, deciding he was tired of being stuck in one spot, sighed as he decided to try to get up again. He took a deep breath as he slowly moved his arms to his side to push himself up.

_Okay Maui, you can do this..._ He thought, trying to think of a way to push himself up so he wouldn't feel so much pain. He remembered Te Kā had struck his right side and he was glad April had jabbed at his left side more with her staff instead of his right. Then again, she had stayed on his left side during their conversations and only poked at his upper-left tattoo on his back and also at his left side.

He then decided that his right side would be in a huge amount of pain if he had rolled onto it, so he decided to roll onto his left side. It wasn't as painful as he thought it'd be, but once he used his left hand to push himself up, a searing, stinging pain shot through his right side. He squeezed his eyes shut and sucked air in through his teeth as he fully sat up, finally allowing himself to breathe once the pain had finally subsided. Due to being able to hold his breath for long periods of time, his breaths weren't very heavy, just soft.

He looked at the fruits April had left for him and reached for one, deciding he should wait a bit before making any other attempt at fully standing up.

_Stupid curse..._ He thought, biting into the soft flesh of a mango, _If it hadn't blasted me out of the sky, I could've been a hero!__ The mortals would've loved me and what I did would've been enough for them! Then I'd be loved and..._ He let out a frustrated growl as he pulled at his hair with his free hand, being careful though so he didn't end up with a clump of his own hair in his hand.

Realizing he had lost everything – love, respect, his hook and two very close friends – he felt like doing something he never thought he'd ever do. He felt like crying, just to let his feelings out. He felt miserable as he placed the fruit he was eating down and put his face in his hands, the tears beginning to fall from his eyes.

_She's right, I am a terrible demigod and friend..._ He thought, only looking up from his hands to look at where April had gone, seeing the trail made by the boat before it had entered the deeper water to allow her to sail, _Why else would the gods stick me here if I wasn't?_

After that thought, he felt his ego starting to deflate. The slight stinging feeling from his burns didn't help either, only reminding him of his defeat against the giant lava monster who had risen up from a pile of rocks in the ocean to take him down.

_Watch, I have a tattoo of it._ He thought sarcastically with a roll of his eyes before looking for a new tattoo that could be on his body. He began to look around the front of his body and his arms to see if a tattoo could be there.

He let out a sigh of relief upon seeing nothing there, but upon twisting his body to check his back, the stinging sensation from his burns returned, but he knew that newer tattoos could appear there, so he once again held his breath. Then he saw it: there – on the upper-right side of his back – was a new tattoo of a giant lava monster with him falling out of the sky right next to it.

Letting out yet another growl of frustration, he let himself fall onto his back, letting out a tiny yelp of pain from the feeling of the sandy ground hitting his burned back.

_They all hate me..._ He thought, staring up at the now orange-and-purple sky, _April, the mortals, the gods... Hell, I wouldn't doubt that Tamatoa already hates me for just taking his leg and leaving him in Lalotai to suffer._ He then sighed, closing his eyes and hoping his time on the island would be short and that the gods and everyone else could eventually forgive him.

* * *

Seeing the setting sun on the horizon, April couldn't help but wonder how Maui was doing on that island, all alone. She remembered his pain and the fruit she had given him and hoped he'd be alright. No, he _would_ be alright. Besides, they both were found drifting on the ocean by the gods, raised by them then given the powers of a demigod – and in her case, a demigoddess – once they were old enough to fully understand those powers and use them.

She remembered it took a whole year of training to get the hang of their weapons and use the powers the weapons gave them before being granted immortality and being released out into the world, free to do whatever their hearts desired. And that was when Maui considered going back to the humans, just to help him cope with his abandonment and feel loved again.

She knew that without his hook, he'd be powerless against whatever creature came out to attack him, and while she wanted to believe she didn't care, she really did. Part of her worried that due to his pain and the loss of his hook, he was vulnerable to attacks by his enemies or anything that wanted to pick a fight with him. But she remembered the island looked uninhabited by any living creatures, so she felt he'd be alright and hoped he would be despite the emptiness of the island.

As she looked behind her into the distance, she saw stars starting to appear in the sky, looking pretty faint due to the light that was left in the sky from the sunset that was now behind her. She couldn't help but notice a constellation in the sky resembling Maui's fish hook. Maybe the gods were displeased with him for stealing the Heart of Te Fiti, but April figured that was there for a reason. She had no idea why though, because knowing him she had doubts that whoever found the island would be able to get him to help them locate the Heart. So finding and restoring the Heart would prove difficult with how stubborn he was.

She had hoped though that there would be _someone_ who could force him to help find and restore the Heart, but for now, that was only a hope.

* * *

The sun shone brightly as the huge mountain to Lalotai had started to show in the distance. April had been up all night navigating the boat in order to control it so she didn't end up off course. She smiled as she straightened her sail to catch wind and get to the island faster.

_Lalotai__, here I come!_ She thought happily, feeling glad she had gone just to apologize to an old friend of theirs. She felt guilty about leaving Tamatoa, but she had instead decided to try to yell at Maui for taking the leg of the giant crab, even following him out of the lair but her words seemed to fall on deaf ears since he refused to listen to her, only yelling back at her. And yes, they did exchange a few hurtful words between each other.

_"So you're just going to abandon him in that cave?!"_ She remembered yelling at him, _"Yeah, seems like the thing a half-human would do, since your parents had done the same to you."_ Her strategy during arguments like that was to pick at his weak points, just to get him to change his mind about the whole situation. But it didn't go so well, since they'd both been abandoned and in this type of situation Maui could easily fire back at her.

_"__Yeah? Well, you were abandoned too."_ She remembered him saying back, _"And you're also half-human... Unwanted by your parents, no matter what you try to tell yourself."_

As she remembered those words, they still hurt as badly as when he had said them. She still denied the whole part of being unwanted though. She had stuck to her beliefs that their parents just couldn't take care of them, but she still had her doubts. That's what she got for living with – and being friends with – a guy who thinks he was unwanted.

After the memories, she just sighed, hoping the giant coconut crab could forgive her as she docked her boat on the shore and got off, changing to a hawk and flying to the top of the mountain.


	3. The Visit

Tamatoa was in his lair, having already gotten up and learned to maintain balance without his front leg for the past few days. He was thinking of what to do before he saw a familiar figure in the entrance to his lair.

"Oh..." He said, sounding as if he didn't care what she was visiting him for, "It's just you, that annoying demigod's sister, right?" April rolled her eyes as she entered the lair.

"Look, I'm not his sister." April mentioned as she walked up to the crab. "And I'm truly sorry for what he did to you..." She added as she looked at the ground, sadness in her voice, "I told him yesterday after his theft of the Heart went wrong that he could've told you that you could have the Heart after he used it for the mortals as long as you didn't use it to create an army."

"Look, babe" — April held in the urge to cringe as Tamatoa had said that — "do I _look_ like I care about what that semi-demi-minigod _does_?" He then perked up as he remembered her mention Maui's failure to steal the Heart. "But I _do_ care to hear about his failures. Gives me something to rub in his face for the next time I meet him."

"Um, well..." April started, shifting from one foot to the other, unsure of whether she should tell him or not, "I'll tell you. But you gotta promise me that you won't mention this failure out loud to him, or he'll either think or know that I told you about it since I told him I was visiting you, okay?" The giant coconut crab just nodded, and April was glad that he was still on friendly terms with her.

She then started to explain everything that had happened involving Te Fiti and what happened after and Tamatoa looked amused before letting out a villainous chuckle after she had finished explaining.

"Man, the gods must hate him." He said with a smirk, seeming to have enjoyed what she had told him, "That little demigod causing me pain, stealing the Heart then getting knocked out of the sky by a raging lava monster? It's a win-win for me!" April hesitated a bit to tell him about the constellation in the sky that she had seen the night before as she just nervously looked at her staff.

_Should I tell him?_ She thought, turning the handle in the palm of her hand, _I mean, if I do tell him, he might get angry..._ She then took a deep breath.

"...Actually there's a giant fish hook constellation in the sky." She said as she looked up at him and winced slightly, expecting an angry reaction from him. Instead she got a puzzled look.

"There's what?" Tamatoa asked, confused, "Why would there be a–" Then it happened as he snapped a claw shut, causing April to wince again and back away a bit as he glared at nothing in particular. "Why is there a giant fish hook constellation in the sky?! It's not like he's special enough to be remembered!" April hesitated for a bit, afraid to anger the crab even further as she tried to think of something to say.

"Maybe they want someone to...rescue him...?" She tried with a nervous smile, "Y-You know...to find and return the Heart."

"Pfft, yeah... Good luck to them when it comes to trying to get _him_ to return the Heart." Tamatoa scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief, "He'd most likely take it again and give it to his precious little _humans_." He said the last word mockingly. "Or if a human has it he might just try to convince _them_ to keep it."

_Not if I have something to say about it._ She thought, glaring at the idea of that happening, _If he did that instead of returning it, I'd freaking__ kick him where I _know_ it hurts!_

* * *

Maui woke up with sunlight glaring in his eyes as he sat up and rubbed them. He then looked at the pile of fruit next to him. Suddenly he realized something: he wasn't in pain from his burns anymore! He smiled as he quickly got up in triumph, a huge smile on his face. But a stinging pain spread through his right side, and he grunted in pain before sucking air in through his teeth as he placed a hand over it.

_Okay, maybe that was a bad idea..._ He thought, teeth still clenched in pain, _I should really work on that__ next time I get burns on my body._

As the stinging pain subsided, Maui looked down at the fruits April had left for him the day before. He then grabbed a banana, deciding to search around the island for something he could use to escape, but he knew he couldn't think without at least _something_ to hold him over as he searched. Besides, on an empty stomach the most he would be able to think about is how hungry he was or, possibly, food.

He opened the banana then started on his way as he took a bite from the soft fruit, hoping it'd be enough to at least hold him off until he thought of something. He started to look around as he continued to eat the fruit, hoping to get his brain working so he could find a way off the island. He walked a short distance on the island before coming upon a cave.

_Well, if there is no means of escaping I could always live in there._ He thought with a shrug as he began to walk into it.

Inside the cave, he found a large, smooth rock that seemed to stretch to half the height of the cave's ceiling and to the right – closest to the entrance in front of the wall – was a hole in the ceiling that light had shone through. Those were the only things he had found in the cave.

He examined the rock closely, as if to see whether or not he could do something with it. He then smiled.

"You're going to make a fine work of art." He said as if the rock could actually hear him, "All I have to do is find something to carve you with."

* * *

"So are you going to be okay down here while I'm gone?" April asked after they had caught up a bit, "I mean, if you need me to stay I can."

"No, I don't want to hold you back from whatever you're going to be doing next." Tamatoa said, lying down on his legs, "Besides, you've got adventures to go on, don't you? You know, people to help?" April sighed.

"No, I gotta make sure the big guy's safe and has food." She said with a roll of her eyes, "But if I didn't have to be stuck watching over him – which I'm sure is what the gods want me to do – then I'd definitely be going on adventures. But you gotta do what you gotta do..." She then smiled at Tamatoa before adding, "But I'll make sure that once he gets off the island, he owes me. And big-time, too." They both then chuckled.

"Well whatever he owes you, make sure it's great." Tamatoa said with a smile. April giggled, already having an idea.

"I will." She said, "And first all I gotta do is hit him with my staff" — she twirled it in her hand — "and tell him that he owes me something shiny for me to give you for stranding us on the island in the first place. Or, I could do something to humiliate him. Or both, like telling him he owes me something shiny to give you or else I'll do something to humiliate him."

"Ooh, do both!" Tamatoa said, excitement showing on his face, "That should be interesting." April chuckled.

"Okay, I'll do both for ya." She said with a smile, "And I'll let ya know what his reaction is." Tamatoa grinned.

"I can't _wait_ for that day to come!" He said, seemingly overjoyed, "And when it does I will laugh in his face."

"I'll come visit you soon Tamatoa." April said, still smiling at him as she backed away to leave, "And, if you want, I will keep you updated on stories of his failures, since I know you love those." Tamatoa's grin seemed to grow.

"Oh, yes, I'd _love_ that!" He said, seemingly moving in an excited manner that only a crab could, "But I promise I won't tell him anything you don't want me to tell him."

_Because he's tried to be tough, but apparently he doesn't have hard enough armor._ The giant crustacean thought to himself, stifling a chuckle, _Poor, helpless, possibly broken Maui._

* * *

**Okay, so...I decided to throw in a reference to the song _Shiny_**** where Tamatoa sings "You've tried to be tough, but your armor's just not hard enough" in the ending. I just decided to change it around a bit. Why I did that reference is because I wanted it to connect with Maui's failure to steal the Heart and take down Te Kā for this fanfic.**

**I won't be covering every single day that Maui's been in exile on the island since that'****s a _very_ long time, but when I see an opening to add the day of his rescue, I will. This just became a story in itself, and the first chapter was originally supposed to skip to the day of his freedom, but these ideas just came to me as I went, like detailing what had happened after his defeat against Te Kā.**


	4. Heading Back

**Before you read this chapter, I'd like to add a trigger warning here for those with depression. There are no suicidal thoughts in this chapter, but in the third paragraph (second sentence) there is a sharp rock. I decided to warn about this in case it could be a trigger for those suffering from depression.**

* * *

It's been a few hours since Maui started checking the island for a means of escaping, and he was now sitting on the sandy shore of his island, his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on the palms of his hands. He sighed, having given up an hour earlier.

_It's useless..._ He thought, dragging a finger through the sand on his left side, breathing out a sigh of defeat, _I'm never getting off this stupid island... Besides, maybe the gods told the mortals what I'd done. Maybe the mortals...didn't need the power to create life itself and could've thrived on their own without it, so even they're upset._

After he had thought that, he looked back to the fruits April had left for him, deciding he was hungry and husking one of the coconuts with a flat, sharp rock he'd found. He looked at the rock as he turned it around in his hand a few times.

_Everyone seems to hate me..._ He thought with a sigh as he tossed the rock back onto the sand, _I try to give them everything, and they freaking hate me for it._ Tears began to well up in his eyes as he had thought that, a lump forming in his throat as he tried – no, fought – to hold the tears back. _I've lost everything I'd ever wanted, that I thought I'd finally earned... All of it. It's just gone!_

As he went to drink the water in hopes of getting everything off his mind, he noticed the ocean just looking at him.

"What?" He asked, clearly also upset and trying to show it without letting his voice crack from his own sadness, "Are you disappointed in me too? Because if so, I don't need to hear it. I already _know_ I'm a disappointment to all! I'm no longer a hero to all, either. And I really don't need to hear it from anyone! I know I've failed..." His voice sounded sad as he once again tried not to let the tears fall, the lump once again appearing in his throat. "Everything I've worked so hard for... Gone!" At the last word, his voice finally cracked, him being unable to hold back the tears anymore as they just streamed down his face.

He looked down at the husked coconut in his hands and gently set it down so the water didn't spill before putting his face in his hands, letting out quiet, gentle sobs. He no longer felt hungry, his depression overriding his hunger. The ocean seemed to take pity, and reached a tentacle out of the water to touch him. All he did though was push it away.

"I don't need your sympathy." He said sadly, looking down at the ground, "I-I don't deserve it... I removed my _own_ best friend's leg because my anger got the best of me! I said hurtful things to April that I know I shouldn't have! I even stole the heart and now _no one_ can – nor wants to – save me from this... This filthy pile of pebbles!" The ocean just seemed to give a small nod of understanding before withdrawing back into the water, the small waves still lapping on the shore and the sound of the ocean in the distance. Maui just sighed.

_The only reason I'm stuck here in the first place is because of my own stupidity..._ He thought, clutching the sides of his head with his hands, _If I wasn't so **stupid**, I wouldn't be here!_ He then sighed before glaring out at the ocean. _That's it, I'm getting my hook back, even if it kills me! I'm going to be great again! I'll show everyone I'm still the great, powerful demigod I once was!_

He then got up, ran towards the water – ignoring the stinging pain on his right side – and jumped in before beginning to swim. The waters began to become rough as if not wanting him to go out there, and pushed him back. As he tried to fight against the underwater current, it proved to be too strong and as he came up for breath, he watched with wide eyes as a large wave crashed onto him, submerging him in the water once more as it washed him back up on shore.

"Oh come on!" He shouted at the ocean as he got to his feet and turned to face it, "What d'ya have against me?!" The ocean didn't reply, the waves just lapping on the shore. Maui sighed.

_Well, guess I'm stuck here._ He thought, wiping as much wet sand off him as possible, _Better go–_ He then looked down to see the coconut he had left on the beach.

Suddenly remembering how hungry he was, he quickly grabbed it, drank the water then ate the white meat inside the shell. He sighed from relief as he reached for another fruit, but something had stopped him. He noticed the tattoo of him holding up the sky was looking at him, seemingly drenched judging by the tattoo ink resembling water droplets dripping from the small version of him.

"Uh...hi...?" He said, not really knowing what to say to the now-sentient tattoo. The tattoo just shook the water off itself before crossing its arms and tapping its foot, not looking too happy.

Since the tattoo had started moving, he couldn't help but wonder if he was going crazy. Or was he just lonelier than he thought and imagining his tattoo moving? He rubbed his eyes and checked again. Nope, the tattoo wasn't back to holding up the tattooed sky printed on the upper-left side of his chest.

"Look, I'm sorry you almost drowned okay?" He asked it, "I didn't know you were sentient. Or that you'd...become sentient, anyway." The mini version of himself just rolled its eyes, then decided to forgive him with a hug. He smiled as he began to pat its back. "I'm glad you understand... It's been hard feeling like nobody likes me anymore." The tattoo just nodded in understanding before Maui reached for another fruit again.

* * *

Night fell as April was sailing back to Maui's island. She looked at the fish hook constellation and kept her eyes on it for a while.

_Still alive..._ She thought with a sigh of relief, _Though I know that island is uninhabitable, I'm glad he's still alive and safe! I just hope he's doing okay._ She glanced at the ocean during her thoughts as if expecting it to be able to read her mind.

"Is he...safe?" She then asked it, looking down at the water before adding, "You know, like is Maui safe?" The ocean didn't respond for a second, but it came up and nodded.

"Okay, good..." April breathed with a smile as she looked back at the fish hook constellation once again.

* * *

Maui looked at the rock statue of himself he had started to carve earlier after the incident of almost drowning and smiled, the moonlight shining down from the hole in the ceiling of the cave making it pretty easy to see. He glanced at the fruits he had brought with him, deciding to eat another coconut.

_I can't wait until I get off this island..._ Maui thought, beginning to hate how he could never master fishing no matter how hard he tried and could only catch the fish that washed up on the shore in the most shallow part of the water for lunch. He sighed, looking down. _I sure hope April's doing okay._

He then decided to lie down on a bed he made out of leaves just laid out on the floor. He made an extra one but he didn't know why. He figured he just secretly missed April more than he thought and that was why. But he soon went to sleep after lying down, hoping she'd be back soon and assuring himself she would so he wouldn't worry.

* * *

It was sunrise when April saw Maui's island as a speck in the distance. She smiled as she looked into the sky, seeing the constellation gone and replaced with a bunch of stars, faded from the sunlight.

_Almost there!_ She thought happily, _Then it's time to get some rest, since I doubt he'd be up this early._

She straightened the sail so she could get to the island quicker, feeling happy that she could finally talk to her friend again and seeing if he was able to get himself up. But once she got onto the island, she was surprised at what she saw.


End file.
